Aussie teen Emerson Jones powers into Australian Open junior girls' semifinals
Gold Coast super talent Emerson Jones is two wins away from breaking a 30-year title drought after surging into the Australian Open junior semi-finals in Melbourne.
The top-seeded Jones fought back from a set down to defeat Austrian Lilli Tagger 4-6 6-2 6-2 on Thursday to remain on track to become the first Australian since Siobhan Drake-Brockman in 1995 to win the girls’ title at Melbourne Park.
Runner-up in both the Australian Open and Wimbledon girls’ finals last year, Jones is the world’s top-ranked junior and already drawing comparisons to retired great Ash Barty.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The teenager will face Japan’s Wakana Sonobe after the fourth seed overcame another Australian, Tahlia Kokkinis, in their quarter-final, 6-2 6-4 later on Thursday.
Queensland 16-year-old Kokkinis, who was handed a wildcard entry into the junior girls’ singles tournament, was unable to keep her giant-killing streak going.
After being outplayed in the first set Kokkinis broke her more fancied rival to take a 4-2 lead in the second.
But a medical time-out interrupted her flow and Sonobe struck back, breaking the home hope to level at 4-4 and then again to wrap up the victory.
